THE much-anticipated opening of Wellington’s drive-thru KFC fried chicken restaurant took place on Monday morning (November 4) – without a fried chicken in sight.

The Westpark business park, Chelston, suffered a power cut shortly before the store’s opening, leaving only emergency lights working and staff unable to cook any food

Customers waiting to eat in the restaurant were instead given free cookies and asked to go back in the afternoon when the power was expected to be back on.

The ribbon cutting ceremony by Wellington Mayor Cllr Janet Lloyd and Somerset Council chairman Cllr Mike Best was already five days late after the original opening date of Halloween (October 31) was postponed without explanation at the eleventh hour.

The opening was also marred by the absence of any of the planned 12 electric vehicle charging parking spaces for customers.

Somerset Council imposed a planning condition that the store could not be opened until the 12 charging spaces were operational.

But the electric parking spots were closed off with Harris fencing and some equipment left piled on the tarmac as the opening took place.

When the power was eventually restored later in the day staff handed out merchandise and free meals to the first few customers visiting the restaurant.

The 50-seat restaurant and drive-thru has immediately created more than 35 jobs for the Wellington area and is set to add a further 20 posts in the coming weeks.

KFC UK and Ireland chief development officer James Whitehorn said anybody who wanted to join the Wellington team was still welcome to apply.

A spokesperson said the Wellington store would partner with FareShare, the UK’s national network of charitable food redistributors, for left-over food to be distributed to local charities.

They said: “We are going to be really positive in giving back to the community, which is really important to us.”

However, they were unable to confirm when the company would be able to comply with its electric vehicle charging planning obligation.

The Wellington KFC will also be providing delivery from the restaurant to customers in time for Christmas.

Mr Whitehorn said: “We are thrilled to be opening our first restaurant in the vibrant town of Wellington, bringing our chicken to local people and creating new jobs in the community.

“We are grateful to everybody who has helped bring our new restaurant to life and we cannot wait to welcome our first customers.”

The Wellington KFC has been built by Westpark estate developer Summerfield Commercial and joins more than 35 other restaurants serving the UK’s original fried chicken across Somerset and the rest of the Westcountry.

The company aims to open a further 500 new restaurants across the country over the next decade, a move set to create more than 20,000 jobs and support local economies and communities.

KFC, famous for its ‘finger lickin’ original recipe chicken’ created in 1952 by Colonel Harland Sanders, opened its first restaurant in the UK in Preston in 1965 and now has more than 1,000 across the country.